Trump counter-programs Harris with NABJ appearance

• On Wednesday, Trump will participate in a Q&A session at the 2024 NABJ Annual Convention in Chicago with ABC's Rachel Scott, Fox News' Harris Faulkner, and Semafor's Kadia Goba.
• The announcement of Trump's scheduled event has led to an outcry from some prominent White House reporters who covered Trump's presidency.
• Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, offered to speak virtually, but NABJ did not accept, so Harris will not attend the convention.

What they're saying: NABJ President Ken Lemon stated that the organization, which has more than 4,000 members, invites the presumptive nominees to attend the convention every four years.

• "It's important for us to hear from him in this environment and in this way. As journalists, we are also called to have uncomfortable conversations so folks are more informed," Lemon said.
• Trump Campaign Black Media Director Janiyah Thomas told Axios: "Team Trump believes it's important to give Black journalists more access to presidential candidates so they can better inform Black voters."

Between the lines: It's clear that NABJ is an opportunity for Trump to speak to a Black crowd and improve his relationship with Black reporters, or try to, at a time when his opponent is a history-making Black woman on the Democratic ticket.

• Harris poses a unique challenge to Trump, showing an early ability to excite voters of color and younger voters.
• In recent polls including ABC News/IPSOS, Wall Street Journal and Fox News, she has shown favorability ratings from nonwhite voters that are significantly higher than President Biden.

What to expect: Trump will most certainly put on a show in front of the NABJ crowd.

• He's likely to tout how he secured permanent funding for HBCUs, delivered comprehensive bipartisan criminal justice reform, and signed legislation to revitalize Opportunity Zones, which he worked on with Sen Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
• Trump may also repeat a familiar refrain: pitting immigrants against Black voters in the urban areas, to argue that undocumented immigrants suck up resources from citizens and hit minorities communities hardest.

How we got here: NABJ has a history of hosting presidential candidates and presidents at their annual conventions.

• Former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton attended NABJ conventions as sitting presidents or presidential candidates.

• The effort to get the presidential candidates to the convention started in early January or February, Lemon said.
• "There was a point when we were certain Biden and Trump were both going to say yes," he said, adding that the organization had been in contact with the Harris camp over the past nine days.

Zoom out: Trump has participated in a few events with predominantly Black audiences.

• In February, he spoke at the Black Conservative Federation's honors gala in South Carolina, where he claimed in a winding 90-minute speech that "the Black people like me" because of his numerous criminal indictments.
• He also joked that the lights were so bright he could only see the Black people in the audience.

The bottom line: Wayne Dawkins, NABJ member, historian and author of Black Journalists: The NABJ Story and Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream, said the convention "is a destination; you have to be there to get your message out."

• "As far back as the late 70s, when NABJ was a baby, we've had Republican candidates speak," Dawkins said.
• Trump will be the first Republican to address NABJ members since 2004, when NABJ and other affinity groups heard George W. Bush speak in D.C.
• "Regardless of what you think of Trump, we're NABJ — the largest gathering of people of color in the world," he said. "What we think of a newsmaker is not the issue here; we're supposed to cover them. Our mission says we will hold power accountable."